Fire destroys Ross Township home

The cause of a Sunday night fire that destroyed a Ross Township home and displaced a family remained unknown Monday.

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By ANDREW SCOTT

poconorecord.com

By ANDREW SCOTT

Posted Nov. 6, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By ANDREW SCOTT
Posted Nov. 6, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

The cause of a Sunday night fire that destroyed a Ross Township home and displaced a family remained unknown Monday.

Neighbors said they heard an explosion and then saw the fire on Upper Smith Gap Road, near Chicola Lake, in Ross Township shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday. The secluded area is nestled between mountains in the township's southern end.

Neighbors know the owners of the destroyed home only as "John," "Bobbi" and their two children, one of whom is a newborn, and said the family moved in more than five years ago. The family was not home when the fire occurred, but their Labrador retriever was killed, neighbors said.

"I was up all night, crying," neighbor Carol Williams said Monday as State Police Fire Marshal Shawn Hilbert looked through the rubble nearby. "I just feel terrible for them."

Neighbor Barbara Ferster said homes in the area had been without power since Hurricane Sandy struck Oct. 29. Ferster said power returned at about 6:10 p.m. Sunday, went back out at about 6:45 p.m. and came back on at about 6:50 p.m.

"Then, we heard this loud explosion," Ferster said. "I looked out the window and saw flames."

Williams and her boyfriend were in their living room when they likewise heard the explosion.

"We looked out our window and saw flames just shooting up into the air," she said. "I ran to the phone and my boyfriend ran outside."

Like Williams, Ferster ran to her phone. At first thinking it was her garage burning, Ferster called 911 and told her husband "to run next door and tell John and Bobbi to get the kids out of the house, since our garage is close to their house."

"When my husband went out, he saw it wasn't our garage but their house that was on fire, so he called John by cell phone and told him what was happening," she said.

Volunteer firefighters from Kunkletown and other companies responded, but were unable to save the house. Neighbors said the family is now staying with John's parents, who live in Monroe County.

"You hear about people who survive house fires being left with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs, but you never think it could happen to you or one of your neighbors," Ferster said. "John had spent years fixing up that house. I'm just glad they themselves weren't hurt."

Anyone wishing to learn if the family is accepting donations through the Red Cross can call the Red Cross office at 570-476-3800.